Signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge have violated the oath of office and the Constitution

Can this be classified as treason? You be the judge. But signing the "pledge" is in clear violation of the Constitution, and the oath of office for members of Congress who have sworn to uphold the Constitution. The pledge in question, of course, is the Taxpayer Protection Pledge that members of Congress have signed for Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. Whether treasonous or not, members of Congress who have signed this pledge, at a minimum, should be expelled from Congress for un-American activities.

Here is the proof:

First of all, the pledge that every single member of Congress has taken upon accepting the job:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

What are these "duties of the office" mentioned in the oath? Article I of the Constitution spells them out in Section 8. The very first one: "The Congress shall have the Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States..."

Article I, Section 8 then continues with a specific list of duties, all of which require funding. There is nothing in the Constitution or the oath of office that is consistent with allowing a pledge to a private partisan group to take precedence and over-ride the oath of office. On the contrary, such a pledge violates both the Constitution and the oath of office.

What exactly is the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge"? This is a pledge to serve a specific political agenda regardless of the duties of office. The Constitution requires members of Congress to collect revenue and make expenditures. It does not say that taxes can only go down and never up - the duties of office spelled out in the Constitution require members of Congress to be flexible to meet the needs of the nation according to circumstances as they develop. It is more than short-sighted for members of Congress to decide that circumstances could never develop that would necessitate a tax increase of any kind - it is also a dereliction of duty to not only decide this, but to make a pledge stating that they would never consider a tax increase under any circumstances.

To repeat for emphasis: it is not possible for anybody to know for certain that circumstances would never arise in which the Constitutional duties that members of Congress are sworn to uphold would include the need to increase tax revenues. This impossibility is what makes such a pledge a clear violation of the oath of office, a violation of the Constitution itself.

This is the pledge, the one that violates the Constitution and the oath of office, signed by members of Congress at the request of Grover Norquist:

"I, _______, pledge to the taxpayers of the _______ district of the state of _______, and to the American people that I will:

ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and

TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates."

[this is the House version; the Senate version doesn't reference a district but otherwise is identical]

This pledge clearly represents un-American acitvity for anybody who signs it while under oath of office in Congress, or for anybody who takes the oath of office subsequent to signing this pledge without denouncing the pledge first. But what should be done about violators? Clearly, they are unfit for office and should be removed. Criminal charges seem to be in order. But what process could be used to accomplish what rightfully needs to be done? Who is going to impeach 52% of Congress? Who is going to convict them? Can they be charged with treason?

Here is where the terminology can get sticky. I understand when people call such un-American activity "treason". We are talking about people who would rather trash the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. economy for nothing more than partisan gain, to avoid compromising on a political philosophy. For these people, partisanship is clearly more important than the United States itself; partisanship is more important than the economy and the health and safety of the citizens; partisanship is more important than a sworn oath to protect the Constitution. This definitely meets some definition of treason, but it might not be enough to get a conviction on a charge of treason. For that, the activity would have to meet the Constitutional standard: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort". [Article III, Section 3]

To me, it would be more useful to avoid using the word treason so that the discussion doesn't go off-track based on the Constitutional definition. But the activity still is very much un-American and meets the definition of "high crimes".

So how should violators be punished when 52% of the people in charge of punishment are in on the conspiracy? According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives has sole power of impeachment, and the Senate has sole power to try impeachments. And what does it say about the voters of America who elect these people even after they prove in writing that they are violating the Constitution and the oath of office? Many voters are voting for these people because they are doing this. What does all of this say about those voters? This isn't the only such violation of these people who are sworn to represent us and uphold the Constitution: many of them are on record saying that they want the American economy to fail between now and election day, and they are in a position to make that happen. Those who are not on record saying this are voting along partisan lines with those who are on record - they are all part of the conspiracy. These people need to be removed from office and punished for the violations immediately! But how can that possibly happen when these people are the majority of the insiders?

Those who have violated the Constitution and the oath of office by signing this pledge include many very prominent politicians, including Congressional leaders and people running for President. Most of the rest of them are running for re-election in their current positions. For a complete list of members of Congress who have signed this pledge, click on the link below:

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